I'll also work hard to conquer the dungeon today.

Chapter 755, Section 2.8, Chapter 5: The Silver Court

The college clock tower, towering and sharp in the darkness, carries a hint of eeriness.

Bertias glanced at the full moon shrouded in darkness atop the clock tower, then his gaze gradually shifted to the enormous clock.

The hour hand points to 'XI', while the minute hand points to 'VI'.

There are still half an hour until 12 o'clock.

Because there is no second hand, it is impossible to observe exactly how many seconds have passed.

A gentle breeze ruffled her blue-gray hair as Bertias surveyed her surroundings, approaching the clock tower step by step.

Suddenly, a sound seemed to appear. The sound was very far away and very faint, but Bertias heard it clearly.

He stopped in his tracks and looked up in the direction of the sound.

Under the dark moon, a figure holding a short-handled scythe stands atop the massive clock tower. His entire body is shrouded in black robes, obscuring both his face and his form.

The man held a chain in one hand and a short-handled sickle connected by the chain in the other. A black butterfly rested quietly on the scythe's handle.

The cold chains rattled crisply as they collided.

The black butterfly took flight.

The next second, the man in black robes jumped off the clock tower.

Bertias immediately drew his pistol and fired a shot at the mysterious man in black robes.

With a 'bang' followed by a 'clang', the black-robed man, despite being in mid-air, deftly deflected the bullet with his scythe. Sparks flew, like tiny fireworks exploding, subtle yet ear-piercing.

The chains on the black-robed man's wrists suddenly snapped, and the scythe drew a sharp arc in the air. Bertias sensed danger, and he rolled to the side several times. Before he had completely stopped, he fired three more shots.

With a 'bang,' the scythe slammed down where Bertias had been standing. The floor tiles crumbled into dust under the immense force, but three bullets pierced through the still-lingering smoke and dust and flew toward the man in black.

The clanging sound of the chains was as cold as a snake lurking in the shadows, carrying an indescribable danger.

The black chain wrapped around his wrist was swung up heavily, and three bullets flying towards the black-robed man were blocked by the gaps in the chain. Then there was the sound of the chain shaking and colliding, and the three bullets fell to the ground easily.

The short-handled scythe had returned to the black-robed man's hands.

Bertias stood up, the silver muzzle still emitting smoke. He casually twirled the gun in his hand and pointed it forward again.

His blue-gray eyes narrowed slightly. This was the first time he had encountered a man in black robes. Although he didn't know who he was, the presence of obstacles meant that the core was close at hand.

However, once the monster has been assembled, removing its core will not destroy it; it will only cause its dissipated power to be absorbed by other monsters around it, making those other monsters stronger.

We must first sever the connection between this strange phenomenon and the world of strange phenomena.

But what is the connection between them?

Are there any commonalities?

Bertias suddenly looked up at the black full moon.

Black Moon?

No, that's not right. Although every pieced-together strange world has night, removing the moon would be too difficult. It shouldn't be that.

Anchor points should be something closer to the ground.

But, before that...

Bertias looked at the black-robed man standing not far away, and his expression turned serious.

Before that, let's deal with this so-called 'roadblock' first.

The instant the gunfire erupted, the scythe, accompanied by a fierce wind, slashed down. Blue-gray hair flew through the air as Bertias sidestepped the slash, firing a three-round burst upwards. The bullets grazed the scythe as it slashed horizontally again, sparks flying, the metallic hum causing a painful ringing in the ears.

'Ding'

Bertias gripped the gun and pulled hard, blocking the scythe attack; the two weapons were locked together.

A few strands of golden hair peeked out from under the black hood. The clatter of chains echoed again as they snaked around the gunman's ankle. In that instant of tightening, Bertias pulled out a hunting knife with his other hand and plunged it into the black-robed man's chest.

"You know what? The so-called hunter often appears as the prey, and my best weapon has never been a noisy pistol."

A mocking smile appeared on that androgynous, beautiful face. Her blue-gray eyes were fixed on the man in black robes until he turned to ashes and vanished. Only then did Bertias straighten up.

Black butterflies fluttered above the tower under the black moon, scattering specks of colorful phosphorescent powder.

Bertias tucked the hunting knife back into his waistband and casually tossed aside the empty pistol.

"Bel!" Cang Shi waved to Beltias as he ran.

Bertias looked at the two people running towards him from a distance, and his relaxed brows furrowed again.

Why did they bring Cang Shi along?

Cang Shi ran up to Bertias and, before Bertias could speak, preemptively said, "Don't speak yet, there's a reason I brought him here."

"Before I could save him, he had already regained his memory. He has this talent, which is why I brought him here."

Bertias, with a cold expression, retorted, "And then?"

Cang Shi asked doubtfully, "Isn't it good to have a new companion, Bell?"

Bertias sighed softly, "It's not a problem with the new companion, but can you really be sure he'll abide by the rules set by the Strange Phenomenon Society?"

Mu Yin listened to their conversation in silence until they mentioned his adherence to the rules, at which point he slowly spoke.

“I never said I wanted to join the Strange Phenomenon Society. I don’t care what your rules are. I just came here to find something.” As he spoke, Mu Yin took out a book from his pocket, quickly flipped to a page, and showed it to Beltias.

"I just want to find it."

Bertias stared silently at the page, then pointed out after three seconds, "It's upside down."

"Huh?" Mu Yin glanced at the book in his hand, then immediately turned it over, pretending nothing had happened.

Cang Shi also leaned over to look at Bertias, "So you've been looking at this the whole time. What a strange key."

"The mechanical doll's clockwork..." Bertias pondered, "I'll keep an eye out for it, but let's deal with this strange phenomenon first. Whatever it is, we'll talk about it after we get out."

"Has Bell found the core?" Cang Shi asked.

"More or less. But..."

"but?"

“Simply finding the core is useless. Before that, let’s break this strange phenomenon down into its components. I’ll continue searching for the core here, while you two find a way to break it down. If I’m not mistaken, its existence will be very obvious.”

“I don’t think I said I would help,” Mu Yin said from the side.

"Alright, alright, let's go find Mu Yin." Cang Shi smiled and pushed Mu Yin away before Bertias's expression turned sour.

To prevent confusion, here's an explanation: everything that appears in the Silver Court instance is a unique mechanism specific to the Silver Court instance. The fact that Mu Yin and the others' memories are different from before is also one of the unique mechanisms of the instance.

Simply put, this instance replaces the player's memories, making them believe they are truly living there, rather than simply playing a dungeon. This strange phenomenon exists to prevent players from recalling their memories of the instance and thus causing this replacement.

In short, in the Silver Court arc, the strange phenomenon is equivalent to a copy (a substitute term for a copy in reality).

Many plot points in the story can be deduced from details. If you really can't deduce them, it means there aren't enough clues, and I haven't written the rest of the story yet.